Consumers may require assistance from time to time with products and/or services. Some consumers who have problems using a product or service may be in need of technical information or require technical support. Others may require assistance with a return merchandise authorization, a billing inquiry, a service change, and the like. Producers, merchants and/or service providers often recognize the importance of responding to such inquiries in a timely and effective manner. To that end, many provide a substantial investment that can include one or more of live agents, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems and/or web-based self-help resources to address customer inquiries in a timely and effective manner.
A call response process generally acquires information from a customer on a voice call, e.g., using a voice call center model. Such voice call centers generally utilize dedicated telephony equipment that routes calls to a proper team and transfers customer information from a telephone call distribution system to an agent. An IVR system can be utilized to prompt a caller and detect caller responses according to DTMF responses from key entries on user devices and/or voice responses. The IVR systems allow a call to be routed correctly in response or saying a correct keyword or keywords from a predetermined list.
While some call centers use circuit switched connectivity to provide a voice session between customers and agents, others use IP connectivity to carry voice packet streams over a UDP channel, e.g., using a standardized protocol such as RTP. These so-called IP call centers use IP technology with a dedicated packet voice channel that essentially emulates a circuit switched call.